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FW: Jeff "Claw" Hwang's Mig kill
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Steve Sampson
Jun 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM6/4/99
to
Here's an email making the
rounds...
-----
From: [snip]
To: [snip]
Boys:
He needs a remedial English class, doesn't like AWACS much, and is a bit
proud of himself (sounds like a standard, one-each Eagle driver), but he's
a MiG Killer now, so the "Matrix" no longer applies to him. Here's Po's
story of the MiG kills between Kosovo and Tuzla.
He needs a remedial English class, doesn't like AWACS much, and is a bit
proud of himself (sounds like a standard, one-each Eagle driver), but he's
a MiG Killer now, so the "Matrix" no longer applies to him. Here's Po's
story of the MiG kills between Kosovo and Tuzla.
Shoeless
-----
Message-ID: <6ff9f035...@aol.com>
From: [snip]
To: [snip]
Subject: Timing is everything!
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 15:57:22 -0600
X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0)
Message-ID: <6ff9f035...@aol.com>
From: [snip]
To: [snip]
Subject: Timing is everything!
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 15:57:22 -0600
X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0)
Bros,
Well, I'm finally back in England
after being TDY since the end of January,
at least for two weeks anyway. Got sent direct to Cervia AB, Italy, from
Operation Northern Watch in Trukey after being at the Incirlik AB for over 7
weeks ("Luv the 'Lik" no 'mo ! ). My house and yard is a total mess! There
doesn't seem to be an end in sight in the Kosovo situation, but the war is
over for me for a while. Some of you probably already heard throught the
grapevine about what happened to "Boomer" Mcmurry and I. Here's the
proverbial "Rest of the Story"...
at least for two weeks anyway. Got sent direct to Cervia AB, Italy, from
Operation Northern Watch in Trukey after being at the Incirlik AB for over 7
weeks ("Luv the 'Lik" no 'mo ! ). My house and yard is a total mess! There
doesn't seem to be an end in sight in the Kosovo situation, but the war is
over for me for a while. Some of you probably already heard throught the
grapevine about what happened to "Boomer" Mcmurry and I. Here's the
proverbial "Rest of the Story"...
Boomer and I were tasked as
Bosnia-Herzgovinia DCA on 26 Mar, vul time
from 1500Z to 1900Z. We were established on CAP over Tuzla for about an
hour after initial refueling. At 1602Z, while eastbound approaching the
Bosnia/Yugoslavia border, I got a radar contact 37 nm to the east, 6k',
beaming south at over 600kts. Of course AWACS had no clue and did not
have any inkling of someone was flying on the other side of border
from 1500Z to 1900Z. We were established on CAP over Tuzla for about an
hour after initial refueling. At 1602Z, while eastbound approaching the
Bosnia/Yugoslavia border, I got a radar contact 37 nm to the east, 6k',
beaming south at over 600kts. Of course AWACS had no clue and did not
have any inkling of someone was flying on the other side of border
[editors note: eagle drivers think
the world is flat and AWACS can
see everything, even without moving
to "his" battle]
(although he was real good at calling
out every single friendly WEST of
us!). I called out the contact and Boomer was locked same. Without an ID
and not tactically sound to cross the border at the time, I elected to
pump our formation in a right hand turn through south and called "PUSH
IT UP, BURNER, TAPES ON!" (we were initially flying .85M, 28K') and rolled
out heading west/southwest. At that time I didn't think anything much
would happen. I figured the contact would probably continue south or
turn east and remain well on the east side of the border. Nevertheless, I
called the flight lead of the south CAP over Sarajevo and gave him a
craniums up on the posit of contact, altitude, and the heading. This
entire time AWACS still had no radar contact, even after I called it out
on the radio. Man, running away with the contact at our six o'clock
with AWACS not having any clue was NOT comfortable!
us!). I called out the contact and Boomer was locked same. Without an ID
and not tactically sound to cross the border at the time, I elected to
pump our formation in a right hand turn through south and called "PUSH
IT UP, BURNER, TAPES ON!" (we were initially flying .85M, 28K') and rolled
out heading west/southwest. At that time I didn't think anything much
would happen. I figured the contact would probably continue south or
turn east and remain well on the east side of the border. Nevertheless, I
called the flight lead of the south CAP over Sarajevo and gave him a
craniums up on the posit of contact, altitude, and the heading. This
entire time AWACS still had no radar contact, even after I called it out
on the radio. Man, running away with the contact at our six o'clock
with AWACS not having any clue was NOT comfortable!
Boomer and I continued west for a
total of 60 sec (about 10 nm) before I
directed the formation to turn back hot, again turning through south in
an attempt to get some cut-off. Boomer was on the northside of the
formation (left side as we rolled out heading east). We both got contact
directed the formation to turn back hot, again turning through south in
an attempt to get some cut-off. Boomer was on the northside of the
formation (left side as we rolled out heading east). We both got contact
BRAA 070 for 37 nm, 23k', target now
heading west (hot towards us).
AWACS finally woke up and starting
seeing the same thing. Now, I'm
starting to think SHIT IS GONNA HAPPEN (evident with the
increase of
about two octaves in my voice!). It was fairly
obvious this guys
originated from FRY, and there were
no OCA missions at the time. Checked
AAI for friendly squawk: nobody
home! We still needed to get clearance
from AWACS to engage, so I requested
(codeword) and got no reply from the
controller (pretty sure he had no
'freakin clue what that codeword meant!)
About this time both Boomer and I got
good ID on the target in our own
cockpit and with threat hot towards
us inside 30 nm decided to blow off
the AWACS/clearance to engage
restriction and go for it! Target was now
inside 30 nm and I directed Boomer to
target the single group. I broke
lock and went back to search in 40 nm
scope and 120 sweep.
The target
check turn towards north west (about
14L aspect) and descend to
high
teens. Boomer and I checked
about 30 deg left to northeast for cutoff.
This check turn slung me aft in the
formation so I stroke it up to full
AB to get more line abreast. I called "COMBAT
1, ARM HOT" and saw Boomer's
wing tanks come off with bright flames under the
wing. Pretty impressive!
I was well over the
Mach when I punched my tanks
off and the jet jumped up
abruptly (you can see it in
the HUD). Took a quick
look back to check and
see if my stabs were still
intact... I rolled my
elevation coverage
looking from about 5K' to 21K' and no
kidding stay in search for at least
one full frame (believe me, I wanted
to go back to single target track
SO DAMN BAD !!!) AWACS started
calling out two contacts, lead trail.
[editors note:
AWACS has now finished moving to "his"
battle]
Sure enough, I was starting to see
the break out on my scope! At about 20nm,
Boomer called "FOX 3, 18K'
!". I saw the cons/smoke came from his jet and
thought: SONOFABITCH!!!!
I gotta get me some!!! I commanded miniraster
on the leader and as soon as the
radar lock (about 17nm), immediately thumb
forward to HDTWS. My first shot
came off inside 16 nm from the leader.
When I pressed the pickle button, it seemed like an ETERNITY
before the
missile actually launched, but when it
did...WOW!!!! I have never shot
an AMRAAM or AIM-7 before at WSEP (and I don't think I have a
chance in
hell of shooting more
missiles at WSEP after
this!). The missile came
off with such a loud roar/whoosh,
I not only heard it clearly
in the
cockpit above the wind noise, radio
comm, ear plug, and helmet,
I
actually FELT the rocket motor
roar! In the HUD, you can see the flames
shooting out from the tail end of the
missile, and the smoke and cons
following it! Stepped immediately to the trailer in HDTWS and press and
held the pickle button for at least 3 seconds. Again, thinking: COME
ON, DAMN IT! LAUNCH!!! The second missile came off just as impressive as
the first after the same painful delay. I yelled "Dirk 1, Fox 6, lead
trail!" ("Cricket" Renner later critique my comm as incorrect 3-1
terminology... EAT ME!!!) Since Boomer was the primary shooter, I
assumed he was locked to the leader, so I kept the trailer as the PDT.
Didn't want to screw with a good thing, I stayed in HDTWS inside 10nm
("Dozer" Shower, our WIC dude, promptly critic me for NOT going STT
inside 10nm upon reviewing my VSD tape, thus I still have to pass my
following it! Stepped immediately to the trailer in HDTWS and press and
held the pickle button for at least 3 seconds. Again, thinking: COME
ON, DAMN IT! LAUNCH!!! The second missile came off just as impressive as
the first after the same painful delay. I yelled "Dirk 1, Fox 6, lead
trail!" ("Cricket" Renner later critique my comm as incorrect 3-1
terminology... EAT ME!!!) Since Boomer was the primary shooter, I
assumed he was locked to the leader, so I kept the trailer as the PDT.
Didn't want to screw with a good thing, I stayed in HDTWS inside 10nm
("Dozer" Shower, our WIC dude, promptly critic me for NOT going STT
inside 10nm upon reviewing my VSD tape, thus I still have to pass my
IPUG Tac Intx ride!). Both
targets started a check turn to the
southwest (14L to H to
16R aspect) and continued to
descent to low
teens. Approaching 10nm,
checking RWR to make sure we weren't
targeted:
"Dirk 1 naked
!"
"Dirk 2 naked !"
"Dirk, let's go pure!"
"Dirk 2 naked !"
"Dirk, let's go pure!"
From 30K', both of us rolled our jets
inverted and pointed nose low
directly at the TD box on the HUD, and pulled throttle to idle. I
directly at the TD box on the HUD, and pulled throttle to idle. I
think my heart rate at this time was
reaching my aerobic limit for my
age (you know, that formula: 220
minus age...)! Against a broken
cloud background, I saw a tiny dot in
the TD box about 7 to 8 nm out.
"Dirk 1, tally ho nose 7 nm, low
!"
Realizing I saw the trailer, I was
praying Boomer would soon follow up
with a tally call on the leader. Approaching 5 nm, I'm scanning in front
of the trailer for the leader but no joy. Shit! The trailer continued
his left turn to southwest and I was looking at approx 14R aspect.
Inside of 5 nm, thumb aft to AIM-9 and tried twice to uncage but the tone
Was not there. Just then, between the HUD and the canopy bow (about
with a tally call on the leader. Approaching 5 nm, I'm scanning in front
of the trailer for the leader but no joy. Shit! The trailer continued
his left turn to southwest and I was looking at approx 14R aspect.
Inside of 5 nm, thumb aft to AIM-9 and tried twice to uncage but the tone
Was not there. Just then, between the HUD and the canopy bow (about
right 12:30 to 1 o'clock position), I
saw the leader explode! The best
visual description I can think of is
if you held a torch from one of those
Hawaiian Luau party, and swing it through the air. The flame with a
extended tail trailling the torch is exactly what I saw! Turning my
attention back to the trailer, the trailer exploded into a streaking flame
seconds later just as I tried to uncage the missile the third time!
Never mind!
Hawaiian Luau party, and swing it through the air. The flame with a
extended tail trailling the torch is exactly what I saw! Turning my
attention back to the trailer, the trailer exploded into a streaking flame
seconds later just as I tried to uncage the missile the third time!
Never mind!
"DIRK 1, SPASH TWO MIG-29s, B/E
360/35 !!!"
Heater, I'm ashamed... I was
screaming like a woman! Didn't really
bothered to keep an eye on the fireballs, so I didn't see any chutes.
Later report confirmed both pilots ejected safely. Not that neither
Boomer nor I would've felt bad if they morted. Anyway, I called for
Boomer and I to reference 080 heading and short range radar. Thumbed
bothered to keep an eye on the fireballs, so I didn't see any chutes.
Later report confirmed both pilots ejected safely. Not that neither
Boomer nor I would've felt bad if they morted. Anyway, I called for
Boomer and I to reference 080 heading and short range radar. Thumbed
aft to AUTOGUNS and plug in full AB
and accelerated to 460 kts at 20K'.
My cranium was on a swivel and
breathing like I just ran a full sprint!
"Dirk 2,
blind!"
Crap!!!! I looked north and it
took me a few seconds to find Boomer
(about 3.5nm left and stacked high). Tried to talk his eyes back to me,
but Boomer called out to west in a right turn. I waited a few seconds
(about 3.5nm left and stacked high). Tried to talk his eyes back to me,
but Boomer called out to west in a right turn. I waited a few seconds
to sanitize and turned west as
well. During the turn, I immediately
pulled into double beeper due to airspeed and Gs (looking
back, I
should've over G so the mission would've been more
impressive... :-)
Rolling out, I was
3 nm in trail of Boomer, so
I had him shackled to
the south to pick up line
abreast. The fun wasn't over yet. Boomer
got an AUTOGUN snap lock less than 10
nm south of us, low alt, with
no ID. I told him to press for
VID while I followed him 3
nm in trail.
We were diving back down to the low
teens and I saw ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING
on my radar! Boomer all of a
sudden pulls up and yells
"Dirk 2, unable ID!"
That's BAD!!! I just about shit in my pants!
I saw nothing and after a few seconds
I asked Boomer if he saw ANYTHING
at all. Boomer said he didn't
see anything, so we just stroke it up
and separate to the northwest for a
while, then came back for a second
look. Nobody home! Boomer
thought it may have been a bad radar lock.
I sure hope so!
The rest of the sortie was one
excitement after another. While on the
boom, AWACS controller started
calling out every single ground traffic
as possible contact crossing the
border into Bosnia. For a while it
sounded like a mass attack on
Tuzla! By now it was night time, and
Boomer (in an offset 3~5 nm trail)
and I were still running around
with our hair on fire! One time AWACS
called out contacts very low alt
moving towards Tuzla westbound.
I didn't see squat on my tube, neither
did Boomer. As the position of
group started getting closer to Tuzla,
I expected to see a burst of
explosion from the airfield underneath!
Boomer and I were gonna go from
"heros to zeros" real soon! Finally I
turned the GMTR setting on my trusty
APG-70 to low and immediately saw
the targets. Locked them up and
show 80 kts ground speed! I wanted
to reach through the mic and strangle
the shit out the controller!
AWACS later called out Mig CAPs just
15 nm northeast of the border!
Boomer and I were ready to "Pop
a cap in their ass" across the border
as soon as we got contact and ID!
Again, nothing on the radar. We even
did two iterations of grinder with a
Two ship of Vipers and no one got
a solid radar hit. That night
we committed and armed hot THREE MORE
TIMES AFTER the Mig kills based on
ridiculous AWACS calls! No kidding,
by the time our replacement showed up
(4 hours of vul time later), I
was totally exhausted and
drained! The flight across Adriatic was
uneventful, and Boomer and I finally
had a moment to think about
what happened.
After I landed and pulled into dearm,
I saw a freak in flight suit and
wearing a reflective belt, jumping up and down. Sure enough, it was
"Freak" O'Laughlin welcoming us back! Taxi back to the chocks was like
having a bunch of kids following an ice cream truck! Everyone came
running out and waited at the parking spot for Boomer and I. Boomer
taxied in front of me as I pulled into my spot. Losing all professionalism
wearing a reflective belt, jumping up and down. Sure enough, it was
"Freak" O'Laughlin welcoming us back! Taxi back to the chocks was like
having a bunch of kids following an ice cream truck! Everyone came
running out and waited at the parking spot for Boomer and I. Boomer
taxied in front of me as I pulled into my spot. Losing all professionalism
and radio discipline (yada yada...),
I called out on Ops freq:
"Boomer, YOU're the
SHIT!!!"
Getting out of the jet and greeting
all the bros and maintainers was THE
GREATEST MOMENT OF MY CAREER!!! Our Ops Grp commander "Wilbur"
Eddy was first to shake my hand, followed by the mob! We were laughing,
shouting, hooting, high fiving, and hugging! It was awesome! Couldn't
GREATEST MOMENT OF MY CAREER!!! Our Ops Grp commander "Wilbur"
Eddy was first to shake my hand, followed by the mob! We were laughing,
shouting, hooting, high fiving, and hugging! It was awesome! Couldn't
wait to review the tapes, we all
piled into the "Turtle" and watched my HUD
tapes. Thank God it recorded everything clearly, including the fireball
from the trailer. "Homer" Samuel and "Bull" Mitchum almost knocked me
tapes. Thank God it recorded everything clearly, including the fireball
from the trailer. "Homer" Samuel and "Bull" Mitchum almost knocked me
over when they came storming into the
Turtle! We were all screaming
and jumping so hard in the Turtle I
though it was going to tip over! Too
bad Boomer's VSD tape did not run,
and his HUD tape was washed out
due to high aperature setting.
Boomer and I were laughing and high fiving
entire car ride home! We weren't even
suppose to fly that day!
Some afterthoughts: It no
kidding took over a day for this to finally
sink in. It felt almost surreal that day/night. "Fish" Bonita, our MX
officer, said it best when he saw me hours after I shut down engines:
"So, Claw, have you landed yet?" Only one word can describe this event:
FUCKING_UNBELIEVABLY_LUCKY!!! Not the fact we shot them down, but that
they were airborne during our watch. Any Eagle driver could've easily
done what Boomer and I did, but as "Heater" Griffin said: "You guys won
the lottery!" The sequence of events happened in our favor like the
planets lining up. The jets, the missiles, the radar (well, at least
mine) performed marvelously! Our MX dudes deserve the bulk of the
credit. We had no spares that day. The crew chiefs and the Pro Super, Jim
Snyder, absolutely BUSTED THEIR ASS working red balls and launched us on
time! Boomer, my wingman, what can I say? Regardless of whose missile hit
which Mig, WE shot down two Fulcrums that afternoon. We succeed as a team,
and fail as a team (good thing it was the former)! Boomer did an
OUTSTANDING job of finding the group, working the ID matrix, and target
according to plan. If I didn't have faith in him, I would not have broke
lock and break out the lead trail formation. Of course I'm proud of what
sink in. It felt almost surreal that day/night. "Fish" Bonita, our MX
officer, said it best when he saw me hours after I shut down engines:
"So, Claw, have you landed yet?" Only one word can describe this event:
FUCKING_UNBELIEVABLY_LUCKY!!! Not the fact we shot them down, but that
they were airborne during our watch. Any Eagle driver could've easily
done what Boomer and I did, but as "Heater" Griffin said: "You guys won
the lottery!" The sequence of events happened in our favor like the
planets lining up. The jets, the missiles, the radar (well, at least
mine) performed marvelously! Our MX dudes deserve the bulk of the
credit. We had no spares that day. The crew chiefs and the Pro Super, Jim
Snyder, absolutely BUSTED THEIR ASS working red balls and launched us on
time! Boomer, my wingman, what can I say? Regardless of whose missile hit
which Mig, WE shot down two Fulcrums that afternoon. We succeed as a team,
and fail as a team (good thing it was the former)! Boomer did an
OUTSTANDING job of finding the group, working the ID matrix, and target
according to plan. If I didn't have faith in him, I would not have broke
lock and break out the lead trail formation. Of course I'm proud of what
we did, but there's one thing I'll really stick out my
chest for: To
everyone who taught me
and influenced me on my
tactical flying and gave
me long debriefs (though
painful at times),
especially "Razor" Johnson,
"Elwood" Amidon,
"Heater" Griffin (even though he's a meat gazer...),
"Homer" Samuel,
"Dozer" Shower, "Nuts" Destasio, and "Bear"
Gibbs,
I DID NOT LET YOU GUYS DOWN!!!
It doesn't get much better
than this guys!
Well, maybe two more kills would be
pretty
cool...
That's all I have to say about
that!
Claw, aka Po
Davitt Hughes
Jun 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM6/4/99
to
I'd be interested to know exactly how reliable are the AMRAAMs. "Claw"
mentions firing two, maneuvering a bit and then the enemy explodes. Are
AMRAAM's really hard to out maneuvre or did the MiGs he shot down not
see the missiles coming at all?
--
Dum vivimus, vivamus
Davitt Hughes
http://fly.to/davittsaircraft
mentions firing two, maneuvering a bit and then the enemy explodes. Are
AMRAAM's really hard to out maneuvre or did the MiGs he shot down not
see the missiles coming at all?
--
Dum vivimus, vivamus
Davitt Hughes
http://fly.to/davittsaircraft
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
Jeff Fisher
Jun 7, 1999, 3:00:00 AM6/7/99
to
HD stands for High Data
flak wrote in message <7jde0v$6o1$1...@gemini.ntu.edu.tw>...
......I commanded minirasteron the leader and as soon as the radar lock
(about 17nm), immediately thumbforward to HDTWS........
^^^^^
Is it "Track While Scan"?And what does "HD" means?
Thanks...
flak wrote in message <7jde0v$6o1$1...@gemini.ntu.edu.tw>...
......I commanded minirasteron the leader and as soon as the radar lock
(about 17nm), immediately thumbforward to HDTWS........
^^^^^
Is it "Track While Scan"?And what does "HD" means?
Thanks...
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